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The Hamburg Senate decided on Tuesday to further increase corporate aid.

In the so-called Corona Recovery Fund, medium-sized companies can now apply for up to 1.8 million euros in aid, previously the upper limit was 800,000 euros.

In January the term was extended by six months to the end of June.

Now the program should run until December 31st.

From the Senate's point of view, the Corona Recovery Fund is "an essential component that was set up as part of the Hamburg Corona protective umbrella".

With the fund, Hamburg promotes "innovative startups and growth-oriented medium-sized companies that got into difficulties due to the corona crisis" through silent participations.

With the Senate decision on Tuesday, the basis for the use of potential further federal funds was laid by providing a further 30 million euros in co-financing.

This means that up to 100 million euros of additional equity capital could be made available via the Corona Recovery Fund.

“The fact is that many companies are still dependent on help due to the pandemic.

We don't leave them out in the rain and therefore adapt our Corona aid to their needs, ”said Senator for Economic Affairs Michael Westhagemann (non-party).

"The topped up and extended Corona Recovery Fund reaches companies for which the Hamburg Stabilization Fund is out of the question." According to Westhagemann, 117 Hamburg companies have so far received commitments totaling 41.6 million euros from the Corona Recovery Fund.

Another 23 applications for a total of 8.8 million euros are currently being examined.

“Almost half of the funds available to date for the Corona Recovery Fund are already committed.

So I am glad that we were able to significantly increase the capital again. "

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Senator for Finance Andreas Dressel said: “The ongoing lockdown is an extreme challenge for everyone involved, and for many of the companies affected by the Corona-related measures it is not infrequently a threat to their existence.

The Hamburg corona protective shield has been wide open for a year, and we continue to fight for companies and jobs with a package of measures that can be seen in a country comparison. "

Ralf Sommer, CEO of Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank, gave an overview of the funding mechanisms: “For a year now, we have been supporting Hamburg's economy in coping with the consequences of the corona pandemic and so far have over 94,000 applications with a total of over 1.1 billion euros Since the beginning of the year alone, around 450 million euros have been granted in bridging aid: "After the federal government put us in a position on March 18, we can finally make the regular payments of bridging aid III."

The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) Hamburg criticized the new Corona resolutions by the federal and state governments on Tuesday as a "slap in the face of the hotel and catering industry".

“The equal treatment of private get-togethers and get-togethers in our companies, which we have repeatedly called for, is not only ignored, but also supplemented by unequal treatment of domestic and international trips in the field of tourist travel,” said Dehoga President Niklaus Kaiser in Hamburg.

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The few companies still active in the out-of-home business and in the supply of business travelers would be further financially burdened with requirements for rapid tests at their own expense.

"The provision of free tests for the shaken industry would be the minimum here," said Kaiser.

Hamburg's industrial association chief Matthias Boxberger misses reliability and perspective after the lockdown has been extended.

“This postponement policy with no prospects makes many companies and employees just stunned,” said Boxberger on Tuesday.

There is far too little cooperation with the economy during the crisis.

"With our skills in production and logistics, some things would certainly have gone faster and better," said the head of the industry association.

Among other things, the industry could make an important contribution to "ensuring that we achieve the necessary vaccination protection faster".

DW